Gift cards are coming to Windows Phone later this year

Like a lot of you, we’ve been yearning for Microsoft to come up with a gift card solution for Windows Phone. Sunny skies ahead. Looks like Microsoft is finally gearing up to drop the Points system on Xbox and replace it with gift cards and cash.

We first reported on the rumor of Microsoft dropping their Points system back in early 2012. The Microsoft Points system has always received its fair share of criticism from users. Now The Verge reports that Microsoft is dropping the Points system with a new one.

The new system will work across a variety of Microsoft properties and platforms, like the Windows Phone Store, Windows Store, and Xbox Marketplace. This new system will also include gift cards, similar to those available for the iOS and Android ecosystems. Debit and credit cards will still be supported for purchases.

Moving towards a system based on cash instead of Point should make it easier for consumers to know how much they are spending on an app or game. We might get more info about this new system at E3. We’ll be there to bring you any info.

Anyone else looking forward to gift cards on Windows Phone and knowing exactly how much that Xbox Live game costs?

Thank goodness. Been waiting on this news forever since I got my phone in December. I actually don't buy any paid apps because I don't want to link my credit or debit cards with my account at all. I was going to break down and buy a Visa gift card that uses an address but this great, makes life so much simpler.

Ive been looking to buy some apps but mostly xbox live games with some of those xbox live point cards. Shouldnt i be able to add those to my microsoft xbox account then use those points to buy games from the window phone store on my phone?

'Bout damn time! Hopefully, they'll have some Xbox-branded cards too for game stores. Of course, they'll be functionally interchangeable with the Windows-bramded variety, but it might be kinda weird seeing Windows cards in a store that mainly/only sells gaming stuff.

Now I guess what would be interesting is to know if this will work with the online Store. That would make them a stone cold winner. I feel this is the right way to go but I hope the Xbox rewards thing doesn't get messed up by this. ;)

Wow! Microsoft gets gift cards before they become mainstream. They will prolly get them before android got theirs. Btw, when will we be able to buy movies and tv shows on our WPs like IOS and android user can on their phones?

I had a customer come in to the store the other day asking about something like this. They had just bought some RT devices for their children and wanted to purchase games but didn't want their credit card saved on the Windows Store.

But that's the whole thing, it's not the same. I have been using actively MS Points for years but I can't tell you off the top of my head what $1 is in points.... 80 points? 90 maybe? One of the big arguments against the point system is that 100 points does not equal $1.00 and it gets quite confusing figuring out what things cost and how much money you have (done on purpose?). The other huuuugeee problem is I can't use my MS Points I have on my Xbox 360 for anything in the WP Store. Why? These are the changes MS needed to make yesterday to compete against Google and Apple. I am an MS supporter all the way but a unified MS economy is the first step in unifying the entire MS ecosystem. MS may be behind in the mobile market but I feel we can win there by integrating it with the very successful Xbox and Windows platforms.